Middle School Student got a perfect TOEFL score

I heard this news today and I must say that I'm quite surprised and impressed by this 13-year old who got a perfect score in the TOEFL exam.

She is not the first one to do so, but she is definitely the first middle school student who did it. Her name is Kim Hyeon-su. Unlike many Korean students, she aced the exam without having to attend any academy or English institute.

What is her secret? I must say that it's her mother's support that did it.

Her mother minored in English when she was in college. She also learned other languages like Hebrew and Greek to be a missionary. Being a missionary, she also taught English. She thought that she also wanted to share her knowledge to her daughter. Mrs. Lee was the one who supported her daughter's English studies.

Many parents wanted their children to be intelligent and they over do so by sending them to numerous academies together with regular classes, home tutors and phone english classes (all at the same time). The effect is mental and physical exhaustion on the part of the children. The result: All knowledge that could have been properly digested have been thrown up to waste. I call it mental bulimia.

Kim Hyeon-su did what other ESL students should: Learn the langauge and most importantly, use it. Speak it. Write it. Listen to it. She bonded with her mom with the language. She played while learning English. She enjoyed Disney shows, comic books and stories. Her lifestyle was adjusted to using the English language in her daily life.

Kim Hyeon-su spoke the English language at home with her mom. She got ample practice. She may have been a prodigy, but she did it with hard work and practice. It only shows that geniuses could be born but they need to be developed and honed to excellence. .

The Interview

Finally, it's interview day. I chose to wear a corporate attire and a clean pair of shoes. I really didn't like wearing corporate clothes but I had to forget that for the interview. It's THE interview that I've been waiting for. I have to get in or else, it's my esteem that's going to hit the floor -- hard.

I went to Ortigas Center and I didn't know where the exactly the building was located. It was even my first time in Ortigas and I wasn't at all familiar. I took a cab and crossed my fingers that the driver knew where I was supposed to go. I cannot be late!

I was supposed to go at Strata 2000 but the driver dropped me off at Strata 100. Almost lost but fortunately, the building was just across the street. I wasn't late. In fact, I was 15 minutes early.

The first interview was a panel interview; there were 4 of us. The interviewer was the HR manager. The questions were general. Describe yourself. We were also asked to rate our English proficiency from 1 to 10 and I answered around 8 or 9. I have always believed in space for improvement. I also have to admit that I'm not a native speaker and I still have loads to learn about the language. The last thing that we had to do was read a long passage. Pronunciation and enunciation should be correct and crystal clear. They were aiming for employees with American accent or at neutral at the least.

We were asked to wait at the reception area. While waiting, I saw this guy in blue polo and tie. He was sitting on his chair with index cards on his hand. No doubt that he was preparing his answers for the interview. Judging by his looks (and the 2 x 2 picture on his resume), he was a fresh graduate and this could be his first job.

I had a knowing smile on my face, looking at the index cards. I remembered my mantra in my head: The interview is just a normal conversation between two normal people. I will be asked questions and I wil just have to answer. It's a normal conversation.

I thought, I didn't really have to memorize anything. I just have to be prepared and my mind, alert. Memorizing answers could jeopardize interviews. It happened to numerous recitations and oral reports in class when the answer does not match the question simply because the answer was memorized; the questions, misunderstood. I have to understand and have a sound mind. I refuse to go on auto-pilot.

The HR manager went to our area and called some names. The initial interview was over and it's time for the final interview with the Operations Manager.

I passed! Unfortunately, the freshie did not. .

Interview Phobia

After sending my resume through JobsDB's 'Quick Apply' button at the end of the job opening, I felt elated. Hopeful, maybe with a tinge of nervousness. I'm applying for my first job and I'm not really sure if I'm going to make it.

I'm been looking for potetial jobs and part time jobs 2 months after graduation. I considered publication, call center, writing gigs... but none of them fit my schedule as a senior college student. There were too many limitations like dorm curfew, location, working hours, class hours, rest hours. I needed money but then, I finally decided to wait until graduation. Fate didn't cooperate.

It was probably because everything has its perfect timing. Do you believe that? Just 2 days after my online application, I received an email from the company, saying that I was being invited for an interview. Mighty great!

But oh my, god. What should I do?

Aside from stage fright, I may also have a phobia of interviews. The last interview I had, I blew off my chances to get in a Computer Science major. The moment the interviewer asked the milliom dollar question, my mind went on auto-pilot and the next thing I knew, I was on my way out of the room. Looking back, I could say, "What the hell was that?"

I'm up for a JOB INTERVIEW. I need this job. I can't mess this up.

So I thought of a sort of mantra to help me fight the fear:

The interview is just a normal conversation between two normal people. I will be asked questions and I wil just have to answer. It's a normal conversation.

That's what I thought. I kept telling myself that it would just be a conversation like others. There's nothing to worry about. Except that I often lose my breath just by standing up and reciting in class. I'm such a loser.

I had 3 days to prepare. .

WANTED: ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR ASSOCIATE

I didn't know that an online English teaching job exists. I thought that online teaching has not yet been done since it was still the time when teaching online outside the classroom has been a topic for debates. Is teaching outside the conventions of a classroom healthy for learning and development or not?

It was almost graduation then and I was looking for a job through online recruitment sites. Since I was a major of Literature so I was browsing through jobs in Editorial, Journalism and Education. I saw this interesting job opening on JobsDB.com.ph about online English teaching. Compared to other job openings of the same nature, the salary is higher and allowed me to choose my preferred shift among morning shift, pm shift and broken shift. No graveyard.

The AM and PM shifts' salary is about the same. However, given the difficulty of being in a broken shift, the salary is P2,0oo-3,000 more. Broken shift is worse than graveyard. It's from 5-9am then you go back to the office from 7-11.

So I was blinded by the salary of this shift's promise, P16,000. Imagine getting that much and I just graduated!

Thus, started my ESL teaching journey. .